Alex and Luke; A 'Julie and the Phantoms' AU

Part 6: I'll Catch You

1995, 3:14 p.m, Sunday afternoon

It's the next day. Luke, Reggie, and Bobby have been in the studio waiting for Alex to show up since 2 p.m.; we've seen this scene before.

"Guys, where is Alex? He's late again!" Luke says. Reggie and Bobby both mumble something like "I don't know" and move on but Luke can't sit still. He gets up and starts pacing back and forth, thinking about last night.

After they said goodbye, Luke wanted to watch Alex walk into his home because he wanted to know that everything was alright. But he knew the longer he was there, the higher the chances were of Alex's parents noticing him and getting upset.

Luke's mind starts to race with thoughts of his parents seeing, 'It was just a hug. A harmless hug. We've been friends for years. It's no big deal if we hug and they see. No big deal... oh gosh is it? His parents aren't exactly supportive now that they know. I guess it-' his inner monologue gets interrupted.

"Luke? Lu- LUKE!" Reggie says to get Luke's attention.

"WHAT?" Luke screams with a frustrated expression. Reggie and Bobby both recoil at the scream. "Dude, woah, you don't need to scream like that okay?" Bobby says. "Yea, really, I think you took out an eardrum." Reggie adds. Luke's face softens and he apologizes.

"Sorry, I'm just... I'm worried about Alex. I mean, he's never late like this, y'know? And... the last time he was was when he got into that huge fight with his parents. What if something is going down between them again?" Luke's nerves get the best of him and starts to speak before his thoughts can keep up with him, almost blurting out something he shouldn't, "What if- what if they're angry with him because last night they-" he cuts himself off, realizing he can't say that.

"God, what is with his parents?" Reggie asks rhetorically. Bobby squints his eyes and gives Luke a look, confused by the dropped sentence. "Hang on, you said last night?" he asks, hoping for clarification. Luke just stands there silent for a second. Bobby picks back up, "What happened last night, I mean, didn't he just go home after practice?" Bobby says. HIm and Reggie are now both looking at Luke with confused faces. "Did something happen last night, Luke?" Reggie adds on.

Luke looks between the two of them then clears his throat. He doesn't want to keep up some big lie to his friends so he gets himself out of the conversation all together. "You know what?" he says, walking backwards, "Never mind. It's, uh, I'll just go and get him." Luke heads towards the doors and rushes out. Bobby shouts after him, "Go and... dude, it's raining!" Luke grabs his bike, shouts back "Not that bad! I'll be fine!" then rides away quickly to get to Alex's house.

Luke's inner thoughts start to scold him inside his head. 'I can not believe I almost said something about last night.' He thinks to himself. 'We both agreed we would say nothing and I almost completely screwed it up.' Luke's anger at himself fades to the background as he gets closer to Alex's house and his thoughts of Alex grow stronger. 'I really hope that Alex is okay. That his parents didn't see anything and aren't mad at him.' As soon as Luke arrived at Alex's home, he could feel that something was wrong.

He stood there, the soft rain falling down on him. He could see Alex's parents through the window, sitting at their dining room table and talking, but Alex wasn't there. His eyes go up to Alex's bedroom window and there he sees Alex, sitting at his desk that is right next to his window.

'I need to get to him without getting caught by his parents.' Luke says to himself. He looks next to the window and sees a giant tree, leading right to Alex's room. He shrugs, "I guess I can work with that." Luke mumbles, out loud this time. He leaves his bike in the bushes where he stood, and walks over to the tree.